Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Gay Pride in the Dominican Republic

Considering the news coming from the Dominican Republic this week, it's worth noting that the 3rd Annual National Gay and Lesbian Pride Forum will take place this Friday, June 23rd, at the Clarion Hotel. The event is organized by the non-profit organization Amigos Siempre Amigos (Friends, Always Friends) and registrations for the event are still being welcome at 888-689-8695. It is being sponsored by the Presidential Council on HIV/AIDS.

El Nacional reports that unlike past years, Santo Domingo will not see an LGBT pride march or rally this year and the event will be the only official recognition of pride in the Dominican Republic in 2006.

The paper indicates that the Dominican constitution explicitly protects sexual orientation from discrimination but says that organizers will attempt to develop a national LGBT agenda to address the fact that from the page to the street, discrimination based on sexual identity is still prevalent.

Over at Monaga, Anthony Montgomery gives a few more details about the bar raids and closings that occurred last weekend and asks people to stop spreading alarmist rumors. Comments posted to his original post on the issue also shine more light on what has been going on.